Creating Happy Childhood Memories through Family Traditions

I was lucky to have grown up with lots of happy childhood memories … and lots of wonderful family traditions. Growing up on a farm 40 miles from the original Little Town on the Prairie encouraged traditions and positive family values. (See my post at Raising Figure Skaters on “Gratitude for Positive Family Values.” and my “Little House on the Prairie Unit Study.”) When my husband and I had children of our own, I wanted to help create similar happy childhood memories for our children.

Based on my upbringing, I focused on creating family traditions for each holiday. We typically found ways to incorporate each holiday into our homeschooling, and we were careful to observe the holiday each year even if certain traditions changed according to our children’s ages and interests. Here are the posts I’ve published so far on our family holiday traditions. (In 2013, I’ll publish posts about our Valentine’s Day and Easter traditions.)

I took lots of photos along the way to help keep the childhood memories alive. Of course, I’m still working on getting those memories into photo albums! That’s been an ongoing project the last few years.

Through Total Yearbooks, I (FINALLY) completed a homeschool yearbook for my son’s years of homeschooling from 1991-2002! My daughter and I will create more happy memories completing her homeschool yearbook from 1991-2006 over Christmas!

What are your favorite ways to create happy childhood memories for your children?

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This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting with the theme of Childhood Memories. This month our participants have talked about memories of growing up — their own or the ones they’re helping their children create.

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

Childhood Memories of Peace, Support, Joy, and Love — Amber at Heart Wanderings wants to make sure the majority of the memories that her children have as a part of their family are ones that are positive and help support the amazing people that they are now and will become as adults.

Hand Made Baby Books — Destany at They Are All of Me talks about why baby books are important to her for preserving memories of her childrens first years, and shows how she made one by hand for each child.

Dredged up — Kenna at Million Tiny Things has been forced to recount childhood memories at bedtime, due to the failure of her middle-aged imagination. She resists, of course.

Crafting Memories — Handmade is what makes the holidays special for Christy at Eco Journey In the Burbs, and she wants to create the same connection with her daughters that she remembers with her mother and grandmother.

My Childhood Memories; beacons of light in the darkness — Stone Age Parent shares the impact of her childhood memories on her life as a parent today, listing some of her many rich childhood memories and how they now act as beacons of light helping her in the complex, often confusing world of child-rearing.

10 Ways I Preserve Memories for My Children — From video interviews to time capsules, Dionna at Code Name: Mama wants to make sure her children have many different ways to cherish their childhood memories. Dionna’s carnival post features ten of the ways she preserves memories; check out her Pinterest board for more ideas.

Memories of my mother — Luschka at Diary of a First Child remembers her mother and the fondest moments of her childhood, especially poignant as she sits by her mother’s sickbed writing.

Traditional Christmas Tree — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep remembers the great times spent with her family driving for the Christmas Tree and the lessons learned.

Wet Socks and Presents — Kat at MomeeeZen writes about her favorite Christmas childhood memory and why it’s so special. And she hopes one day her kids will also have a feel-good memory of their own to look back on.

A Child’s Loss- Will They Remember Dad? — Erica at ChildOrganics writes about their family’s loss of their husband and father. She trys to find answers to the question: Will they remember their Dad?

Childhood Memories – Hers and Mine — Jorje of Momma Jorje wished for her daughter the same passions and experiences she loved as a child, but learns the hard way to accept whatever passions strike in her child.

Holiday Non-Traditions — Erika Gebhardt enjoys her family’s tradition of not having traditions for the holidays.

Thanks for sharing your childhood memories, I found looking at your previous posts about family traditions really interesting, especially about how you homeschool as this is something I’m really interested in for my own child, who is currently 2 years old.

Creating our own family traditions has been so important to me – I’m still searching for just the right ones! One that we started last year (and I can’t wait to do again this year) is to write each other notes that express a few things we love about each other. We read them out loud on Christmas Eve. I’m sniffling just thinking about it
Thank you for sharing your traditions – I’m going to check them out for inspiration.Dionna recently posted..10 Ways I Preserve Memories for My Children

I love the idea of a homeschool yearbook. I can imagine that’s a TON of work, but what a precious thing to have and look back on. I’ll have to keep that one in mind for my kiddos!Lauren recently posted..Stuff does not equal memories

Thanks, Lauren! Actually, with digital photos it isn’t difficult … especially if you do a yearbook each year. My son’s yearbook covered many years and was from our pre-digital-camera years, so it required lots of scanning and editing. I was amazed at how simple the process is with digital photos! Deb recently posted..Montessori-Inspired Nativity Activities and Focus on the Nativity Blog Hop

I love how you have documented all your special family rituals around the holidays and important events. It’s neat to see how other families celebrate. I particularly enjoyed reading about your homeschool birthday holidays.

Thanks so much, Christy! It’s been so much fun to blog about those events … and it is nice to have our traditions documented somewhere other than in photo albums! Deb recently posted..Christmas Around the World: Scotland

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